Dorset, Arne - St Nicholas' Church (5)
St Nicholas’ Church
Situated in Arne Road, Arne, DORSET BH20 5BJ
The church was built in the early 13th century by the order of the Abbess of Shaftsbury and dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra. The building was first a chantry (a building dedicated to the saying of prayers or singing of hymns). It was then annexed by the Holy Trinity Church, Wareham as a Chapel of Ease (St Nicholas was a church used by the parishioners of Wareham to attend when it was too difficult to attend their main church).
The church consists of a body and a chancel, under one roof with a porch and a buttress. The architecture is early English. The East window is a triple lancet and can be used to dating the church to about 1220. There are a few other 13th lancet windows on both north and south walls. The walls are ironstone and the roof is tiled and partly stone slates. It is remarkably unchanged since its early construction.
There is a bell but no tower. The bell is hung in the roof space at the west end of the church. The original bell was installed in 1625 but then replaced in 1782. This new bell cast by the company Chapman and Mears. There were restorations in the 19th century and in 1952 but I cannot find out what they were.
The church is sat upon a mound and has a fine view from the altar window over the harbour. It has also won an award for the quality of wildflowers in the Churchyard.
Dorset, Arne - St Nicholas' Church (5)
St Nicholas’ Church
Situated in Arne Road, Arne, DORSET BH20 5BJ
The church was built in the early 13th century by the order of the Abbess of Shaftsbury and dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra. The building was first a chantry (a building dedicated to the saying of prayers or singing of hymns). It was then annexed by the Holy Trinity Church, Wareham as a Chapel of Ease (St Nicholas was a church used by the parishioners of Wareham to attend when it was too difficult to attend their main church).
The church consists of a body and a chancel, under one roof with a porch and a buttress. The architecture is early English. The East window is a triple lancet and can be used to dating the church to about 1220. There are a few other 13th lancet windows on both north and south walls. The walls are ironstone and the roof is tiled and partly stone slates. It is remarkably unchanged since its early construction.
There is a bell but no tower. The bell is hung in the roof space at the west end of the church. The original bell was installed in 1625 but then replaced in 1782. This new bell cast by the company Chapman and Mears. There were restorations in the 19th century and in 1952 but I cannot find out what they were.
The church is sat upon a mound and has a fine view from the altar window over the harbour. It has also won an award for the quality of wildflowers in the Churchyard.